My boys and my nephews love jokes and riddles. Once on a car ride home from a family vacation, my son Logan and his grandparents told knock, knock jokes for hours until my husband came up with this gem:
"knock knock?"
"who's there?"
"candace"
"candace who?"
"candace be the last knock knock joke?"
Keep that one in your back pocket, parents, you're going to need it.
Jokes and riddles aren't just fun for kids, though. They are great for language development and reading comprehension. In fact, in this article from Reading Rockets, they describe a study where kids who were exposed to riddles and books with ambiguous words (such as homonyms) showed a significant growth in comprehension levels.
Reading Joke Books and Riddles
I am still working to incorporate joke books and riddles into our learning at home. We have explored a few that I'd love to share today:The last of the good clean joke books by Bob Phillips. Ok, this was my favorite joke book when I was a kid. My aunt gave it to me one Christmas in a boxed set. It is still lingering around my parent's house. Sadly, (or gladly) it wasn't the last of the good clean joke books as promised. In fact, Bob Phillips has many joke books for kids and even one published in 2012. If I had known it wasn't going to be the last one, maybe I wouldn't have clung to it so dearly my whole life... way to lead me on, Bob!
Here's his 2012 release, Zany and Brainy Good Clean Jokes for Kids.
Writing riddles and free printable
Once your child has read riddles and jokes, let them try making their own joke book or write riddles. I recently created these winter riddles for my boys to read. I also created a sheet for writers to record some of their own riddles. If your child is young like mine, you could write the words for them and allow them to draw a picture. You can get this free in my Teachers Pay Teacher Store. I'd love if you'd follow my store while you are there for additional freebies.
I hope these jokes and riddles bring a little joy to your January! Remember, while your kids are laughing heartily at these jokes-- and you are rolling your eyes-- their comprehension level of text is growing by leaps and bounds!
So fun and cheery! Thank so much. This is the perfect time of year for jokes and riddles, a pick up after the holiday let down. :)
ReplyDeleteI love riddles for kids ... such a fun way to encourage reading and writing! Thanks so much for sharing your free winter riddles! I featured your printable as the Free Printable of the Day at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow (and on Pinterest)
ReplyDeleteJokes and riddles - what a great way to start out the new year! Thanks for sharing with us readers.
ReplyDeleteCome visit me @toddlersthroughpreschool.com and on facebook at Toddlers Through Preschool
Happy January!